


i like presents too

by Jacketarearmpants



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Holidays, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 03
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21688726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jacketarearmpants/pseuds/Jacketarearmpants
Summary: Having been separated for two months, Mike and El manage to share a tender moment on Christmas Eve in the new Byers house basement.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	i like presents too

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to try my hand at writing a fluffy one shot and it turned out way better than I expected.
> 
> I also have other one shots currently in beta/editing. 
> 
> Shoutout to leetheshark for being a lovely beta/editor. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The Byers’ new basement looks a lot like the Wheelers’, with its tacky wood paneling, ratty furniture, and blankets scattered about. It’s on one of these ratty couches that Mike is sitting, now, smiling is disbelief.

He can't believe the stupid plan that came bursting out of his mouth when El and the Byers moved in October actually came true. It wasn’t easy convincing his parents to sign off, since it would mean he and Nancy wouldn’t be home for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. But once Karen and Ted realized that Holly would also be going away for a Christmas sleepover, and that they would have the house all to themselves for the first time since rekindling their romance after the events of Starcourt, it wasn’t hard getting them to agree.

Mike and Nancy had to wake up at an ungodly hour this morning, pack all their things into the Wheelers’ station wagon, and pick up Max and Lucas. To save some room in the packed car, Dustin got a ride with Steve. The drive over wasn’t too bad—it was only about three hours, and halfway through they stopped and got some breakfast. They arrived at the Byers’ new house around noon, and from there Mike let the Christmas spirit consume him.

Seeing El was a gift in itself. Even though he talks to her every night on the radio, he still missed things like her smile, her hugs, her kisses. He hasn’t been able to give her too many of those yet, though, since he was busy helping everyone decorate the tree and house. By the time that was done, it was time for dinner.

Normally, Joyce has the cooking ability of a toddler, but somehow, the move has improved her culinary prowess. The Christmas Eve dinner was delicious, with everyone gorging themselves on turkey, roasted potatoes, green beans, and—best of all—fresh baked cookies. But it wasn't just the food that made the dinner great: it was the stories they shared, the memories they made, and most of all that everyone felt normal again, something that has been lacking since StarCourt.

Once all the food was gone and everyone was painfully rubbing their stomachs wishing they hadn't eaten that much, sleeping arrangements were made for later in the night. Steve and Nancy would sleep in Jonathan’s room, Dustin in Will’s room, Max and El in the living room, and Mike and Lucas in the basement. Because they weren't going to open presents until midnight, everyone suddenly had three hours to kill. Dustin, Will, and El went upstairs to Will's room to see some of his already opened gifts, Max and Lucas plopped down to cuddle on the living room couch, and the adults—Joyce, Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve—went in the kitchen to drink eggnog, or in Steve's case, rum-spiked hot chocolate. Mike headed to the basement to investigate the room that he was going to sleep in and maybe take a nap; it’s where he sits, now, taking a breather from the crowded upstairs.

He gets comfortable on the couch, chucking his black tie against the armrest, and rolling up the sleeves of his red dress shirt. He spies a radio on a nearby shelf and, uncomfortable with the silence in the room, turns it on. Once he finds the right station, the basement comes alive with the sounds of Jingle Bell Rock.

Throwing himself back down on the couch, Mike begins to space out, before footsteps coming down the stairs shake him out of his brain. He turns towards the entrance to the basement to see El standing at the foot of the stairs. 

_God,_ Mike thinks, _she’s so beautiful._ He takes in her dark green velvet dress, white stockings, black flats, and Santa hat perched on top of her light brown, curly hair. “Hey!” he exclaims, sitting up to create space for El to join him.

“Hi,” El says softly, plopping down next to him.

“What’s up?”

El grins, wrapping her arm around Mike’s and pressing her cheek into his shoulder. “I talked to Lucas,” she says. “Me and him are going to trade spaces tonight.”

"Why would you do that?" Mike smiles back. He already knows what the answer is, having spoken to Max earlier, but he wants to hear it from El.

El looks up at Mike, her hazel eyes twinkling. “I want to sleep next to you,” she says. “I missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” Mike sighs. The past few months have been hard for both of them, as they adjust to their new lives without each other close by. “Hey, El?”

El raises her head to meet Mike’s gaze. “Yeah?”

"Do you want to build a fort down here?" Mike jokes, a smile breaking across his face.

"No, you mouthbreather," El giggles back, returning her head to rest comfortably on his shoulder. 

The two of them sit there in content silence, Mike occasionally playing with El's hair, El rubbing her thumb gently against Mike's exposed forearm. 

“Hey, El?” Mike asks, voice shaking with sudden nerves.

“Hmm?”

“Let’s dance,” Mike spouts as the closing chords of Jingle Bell Rock fade out and the opening of Have A Holly Jolly Christmas begins.

“Okay,” El says. She rises to her feet as Mike does the same, towering over her. “Like this?” She quickly places both her hands on his shoulders and looks up at him, eyes searching for approval.

 _Someone remembers the Snow Ball,_ Mike thinks. “No,” he says gently, “let’s try something else. Give me your hand.” He takes one of El’s soft, smaller hands, interlocking their fingers. “Then, I put my arm here,” he says, wrapping his arm around El’s waist, hand resting on the small of her back and pulling her closer. El’s free hand rests on Mike’s shoulder. “And now we just sway.”

The two of them get lost in the moment, swaying in rhythm as the singer croons on. As the closing notes play and the dance comes to a stop, Mike looks down at El, her eyes rising up to meet his.

The first time Mike said aloud that he loved El, it was an accident. It wasn’t wrong—Mike loves her, always has and always will. But that wasn’t the right moment to say it. If he’d known she was just on the other side of the door and listening, he would have made his declaration more dramatic, more deserving of everything he felt for her.

As their eyes meet, with the music fading in the background, Mike isn’t going to let another moment slip by him.

“I love you, El.”

“I love you, Mike.”

Mike's eyes slip shut as he leans forward, feeling El rise on her own feet to meet him in the middle for a kiss. 

It isn't just a kiss. It’s full of so much more. It’s full of the years of torture, of interdimensional monsters and missing friends, of all those 353 days of seperation and longing. It’s full of so much pain and suffering and agony. But above all, it’s full of reunion, full of joy, full of promise—and most importantly it’s full of love. 

And that's the best Christmas gift Mike and El can ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> If you're reading this over the holiday season, I just want to wish you happy holidays. 
> 
> As for more upcoming fic, expect 2 new chapters of Lost Files within the week and a completed multi-chapter AU to also be posted soon as well.
> 
> If you have any more ideas for one shots that you like to see me write as I'm always looking for new ideas, please leave them in the comments or on my [twitter](http://twitter.com/Jacketsarepants)


End file.
